UNICEF: Afghanistan child mortality soars 08.08.2005 KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan women and children face an "acute emergency" because of exceptionally high maternal and child mortality rates, a representative of the U.N. children's agency said Thursday. About 20 percent of Afghan children die before their fifth birthday, said Cecilia Lotse, UNICEF's director for South Asia, and about 1,600 out of every 100,000 Afghan mothers die while giving birth or because of related complications. "While the country is progressing from a state of emergency to a focus on development, I think it's fair to say that the objective reality of women and children remains nothing but an acute emergency," she said at a news conference. In some parts of Afghanistan, maternal death rates are as high as 6,000 per 100,000 women, she said, citing Afghan public Health Ministry figures. Lotse said all children - but particularly girls - were "very vulnerable" in Afghanistan, with almost half the child population suffering from malnutrition. School enrollment for young Afghan girls is among the lowest in the world. "This represents a tremendous waste of human potential and a tremendous unfulfilled promise," she said. << | >> |
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